From sign-up to your first review.
Fuguro takes you from zero to reading real Japanese, and the start is the easy part. This page walks you through making an account, your first lesson, and the lay of the land on your dashboard, so nothing feels like a mystery on day one.
Through the front door in five minutes.
Three small things stand between you and your first lesson: an account, a starting point, and a quick look around.
- Step 2
Pick your starting line.
The first time you land on your dashboard, a panel asks you to Awaken the Kana. If Japanese letters still look like shapes, start here: short levels teach the full set of hiragana and katakana with picture mnemonics. Already read kana comfortably? Choose I already know my Kana to jump straight to the kanji and vocabulary of Core Ascent. More on both in Lessons & Phases.
- Step 3
Take the 30 second tour.
A spotlight tour highlights each part of your dashboard the very first time you visit. It only runs once, so read it rather than clicking past it. Your first lesson page has its own short tour too, pointing out every part of a lesson card.
Phase 1 is free, and Phase 2 to level 5.
All of Kana Awakening is free, and Core Ascent is free through level 5, real lessons and real reviews, so you can feel how Fuguro works before paying for anything. When you're ready to keep climbing, see Billing & Plans.
What a lesson card actually does.
Every new character, kanji, or word is introduced on a single card. Learn to read one and you can read them all.
- Step 1
Read the card top to bottom.
A kana card shows the character, its reading, and a mnemonic. A Core card shows the meaning, the reading, and a real example sentence. Don't rush past the sentence: it shows the word doing its job, which is what makes it stick.
- Step 2
The mnemonic is the point, not decoration.
Each card carries a little story that ties the shape to the sound, or the characters to the meaning. Read it slowly and picture itbefore you move on. A mnemonic you glanced at is a mnemonic you'll forget by your first review.
Ours not clicking?Write your own in the item's notes. The picture your brain actually formed always beats the one we handed you. - Step 3
Lock it in.
When the story has landed, press the button at the bottom of the card. That records the lesson and quietly schedules the item's first review for later today, your first taste of spaced repetition. From here, the habit is simple: learn a few, then show up when your reviews come back.
What everything on your dashboard means.
- 1Today's Mission. The red banner up top shows how many new items are waiting and drops you into Lessons.
- 2Daily ritual. The ring fills as you review, counting toward your daily goal. Hit it each day and your streak grows.
- 3Future forecast. A small chart of the reviews coming back to you over the next twelve hours, so you can plan when to sit down.
- 4SRS distribution. How your items are spread across the five ranks, from Recruit all the way up to Immortal.
- 5Revision Due. Anything you miss in a review lands here so you can give it a second look the same day.
- 6Reading & Quick Play. Further down sit your reading chapters and the arcade games. Both stay sealed until you reach them, so don't worry if they look locked at first.
That's the whole map. Learn a lesson, do your reviews, glance at the ring. Everything else opens up as you climb.
You know how to start. Now learn how to stick with it.
Read Best Way to Use Fuguro next. It turns these first steps into a daily rhythm that actually lasts.
